341 horses linked to Zetas on auction block

Unidentified law enforcement personnel take a horse away from the stable area at Ruidoso Downs Racetrack and Casino in Ruidoso, N.M., Tuesday morning, June 12, 2012. An indictment unsealed Tuesday accused Miguel Angel Trevino Morales, a key figure in the Zetas drug operation, of setting up a horse operation that a younger brother operated from a ranch near Lexington, Okla., south of Oklahoma City. Millions of dollars went through the operation, which bought, trained, bred and raced quarter horses throughout the southwest United States, including the famed Ruidoso Downs track in New Mexico.

If things align just right, Gerry McMenamy might walk away from a big horse sale this weekend with a future champion — which was once connected to a Zetas cartel leader.

McMenamy, of Yoakum, is one of several potential buyers who might line up today, Friday and Saturday in Oklahoma City to bid on 341 horses allegedly linked to the Zetas. They were seized and are being auctioned by the government.

McMenamy has studied the auction catalog carefully and says bidders will get some bargains on good quarter horses, which excel at sprinting short distances.

“They are the top bloodlines,” McMenamy said. “There's not anything that's a cull.”

He's narrowed down his choice to a young colt, horse No. 171 in the auction.

“Jess Bet on Me,” McMenamy said. “If I were going to buy one, I'd try and buy that one right there. He's a very good horse.”

The horses are being sold by the Heritage Place auction house in Oklahoma as part of a court order in which the parties who have an interest in the horses have agreed to the sale, court records show. The proceeds will be put in a fund that will be maintained by the government while a civil forfeiture case in Austin continues to be litigated. Some of the horses are embryos, or are yet to be named, and come from a lineage of champions whose stud fees are $35,000.

One of the horses being sold, Coronita Cartel, was bought by the cartel in 2010 for $250,000, according to court records.

“This sale may be an excellent opportunity to purchase a Ferrari-caliber quarter horse at a Mustang Shelby price,” said Steve McCollough, special agent in charge of the IRS Criminal Investigation unit in San Antonio, which includes Austin. “Due to the mutual agreement, potential buyers can buy with confidence and peace of mind.”

The horses were seized in June when ranches, race tracks and other properties were raided in Bastrop, Oklahoma, New Mexico and California as part of an FBI-IRS investigation into the Zetas cartel and its money laundering operations.

The raid in Oklahoma netted José Treviño Morales, 45, a brother of the Zetas' leader, Miguel “El 40” Treviño Morales, who is a fugitive in Mexico. Miguel Treviño, 38, is wanted for a wide range of crimes, including drug trafficking and ordering hits on both sides of the Rio Grande and now, money laundering. The Treviños, a third brother, Omar, and 12 others are accused of laundering drug proceeds in ventures in the quarter horse industry.

Some of their horses have raced at Retama Park.

The probe, a search warrant affidavit said, found that Miguel and Omar Treviño provided the resources and funding to establish Jose Treviño as their front man for their horse ventures in the United States.

The affidavit said they funneled drug proceeds to buy race horses in the U.S. and place them in the names of nominees to disguise the Zetas' connection. They were boarded and trained at ranches across the Southwestern United States, including near Austin and Bastrop, the affidavit said.

Once certain horses became profitable — through winnings from races or from the sale of breeding rights — they were transferred into the ownership of Jose Treviño or companies he ran, the affidavit said.

Between 2009 and 2012, their horses won some of the industry's biggest races, raking in more than $2.5 million.

Five of the most valuable horses seized are not among those being auctioned yet because the parties have not agreed to their sale. They include Dashin Follies, which was purchased for $875,000 in 2010, Tempting Dash, Separate Fire, Y516 (an embryo) and Mr. Piloto, which won the 2010 All American Futurity in Ruidoso, N.M.